Free The Perfect Couple by Emily Walters Page A

you,” she added as he framed her face with his hands. “Thank you for pushing me. I think we are okay.”
     
    “I think we are moving on to week two,” he grinned, kissing her softly before pulling away much to Cara’s dismay. She wanted him to kiss her longer, to pull her into a dark corner somewhere and make her feel things. Cara had half hoped that not only would they work on this competition, they would also work on their relationship. Cara sighed and realized that Daniel was looking at her expectantly, his hand outstretched her way, and she blushed, wondering if he could guess what she was thinking about.
     
    She took his hand and together they walked to the blue room, where a few of the other couples awaited their fate after performing. Cara clung to Daniel’s hand as they sat in the provided chairs, watching the door and waiting as more couples came in, the tension in the room palpable. Though they had gotten high marks, Cara wasn’t sure if they were in the good room or in the bad, as she had not seen the other competitors dance. It would have at least been nice to see what they were up against in this first match. She could just hope that they were good enough to move on.
     
    After what seemed like forever, Mike appeared at the door, his facial expression giving nothing away to what their fate might be. “Congratulations. You are the highest-scoring teams. You have made it to another week.”
     
    “We made it!” Daniel shouted, pulling her close. “We did it.”
     
    Cara grinned and hugged him tightly, grateful tears in her eyes. They had done it. She had overcome her reservations about hip-hop and they had pushed through to the next round.
     
    “I’m also here to deliver your next challenge,” Mike said above the cheers and congratulations. The room quieted then and Cara anxiously awaited what he was going to tell them. “Tomorrow you will spend some time in the city, enjoying the sights, but the next day, we expect you to begin working on the samba. We want it hot, we want it sensual bordering on the need to censor you from TV. The other couples who have made it out of their dance-offs will be joining you all shortly. Now there are only fifteen couples left. Make it count.”
     

***
     
    “We have to make this sexy. You heard Mike.”
     
    Cara bit her lower lip as she looked at Daniel, her demeanor bordering on the edge of exhaustion. She and Daniel stood in the studio once more, their first few attempts at making a sexy routine failing miserably on all levels. Her roommate for the duration of the competition, Julie, was a snorer and Cara had been up half the night fighting the urge to stick something in the young woman’s mouth just to silence her. Then, to make matters worse with her roommate, Julie had gone on and on about how hot Daniel was when she was awake and how lucky Cara was to have him. Cara didn’t need to be reminded of that. She knew how lucky she was.
     
    Instead of spending the day exploring the city like she had hoped, Daniel had dragged her into the studio, where they had discussed what they would like to accomplish out of the next routine and worked on some steps well into the night. Now, in the light of a new day, she had to say she was starting to regret being part of this competition. Daniel was living and breathing this thing and while she appreciated the dedication, she wanted some time for just them, without the stress of the next challenge. “Sexy. Got it.” She could do sexy. Ballet tended to be a graceful, sometimes sensual dance with the movements.
     
    Daniel stepped before her and placed his hand on her hip, the heat of his skin seeping through her thin tap pants. “We have to learn to move together. This one will be different than last week. They will expect us to move in sync and we have to show them we can function as one entity.”
     
    “Yeah, I remember the samba dance,” she shot back, placing a hand on his shoulder. Did he forget about her